High School Hell
by kyougu-neko
Summary: Fuu, the loner, and Mugen, the outcast, are forced into playing nice when Fuu finds out Mugen's secret. What will he do to keep it a secret? And what about his grades? As if her life wasn't crazy enough. FuuGen AU.
1. High School is a Necessary Hell

Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai Champloo beyond what copyright allows me to own, that is DVDs, mangas and other such merchandise.

**Chapter 1: High School is a Necessary Hell**

A young girl in a pink "Powerpuff Girls" t-shirt and jean shorts groaned as a bell rang from the nearby school building. Picking up her school bag she pushed off from the shady tree that she had been leaning on and proceeded towards her doom at a measured pace.

"High school is a necessary Hell." She told herself, "just grin and bear it girl. Soon you'll be far away from all these jerk offs."

She passed by clumps of students chattering away, oblivious to the sound of the bell signaling the first hour of classes as she walked through the quad. She glanced at each group in turn noting the lines of division and territory claimed by each clique.

There were the Goths occupying the benches around the sorry, dead dogwood tree that smelled like a rotting carcass during spring semester. They sprawled about looking like a black, bleak landscape of the heart. They were neither animated nor stationary as she could see them switch positions while their unheard conversation evolved. On the perimeter of their territory, tolerated but not completely accepted, the Emo-kids no doubt conversed about their latest sessions with their beloved therapists.

On the other side of the quad the Jocks and their Cheerleader girlfriends held court in a colorful assortment of varsity jackets and pleated skirts. They were surrounded by their loyal subjects, also known as the junior varsity and cheerleader wannabes. The Jocks regaled the junior varsity with stories of their latest and greatest physically taxing exploits while the Cheerleaders sat at a round stone table and painted their nails while they gushed about how great last week's pep rally had gone.

There were many other cliques that made up the school population: socials, hip-hoppers, band-nerds, drama-nerds, nerd-nerds. And then there were The Outcasts. They were the one group that terrified her the most, the group that contained HIM. And they were dead-ahead.

Why The Outcasts had chosen the territory closest to the entrance of the building that housed her locker was beyond her. But she had to pass them every school day and endure their taunts and rude comments. Of a surety she wasn't the only object of derision, everyone who had to get into that building was subject to victimization, but sometimes it seemed as though she got it the worst.

Maybe it was because she wasn't associated with another clique and was afforded none of the protection that a group received. She was a loner who floated through her classes and got the best grades in her class level. She had no friends to protect her. Her sister sometimes stood up for her but that usually did more harm than good as the taunts would be twice as bad as before. She'd endured this for two years and her reluctance to stand up for herself had made it easier for them to pick on her.

She forged ahead with her head down, her shoulder length brown hair hiding her face, hiding her anxious expression, hiding her pain for surely if she showed them that they had affected her it would fuel the flames. As she neared them she steeled herself for the comments about to come her way.

The Outcasts were comprised of a motley crew of rockers: alternative, punk, heavy metal, and hard core. Their sub-cliques were labeled as mods, straight-edgers, skaters and all around misfits. And then there was HIM. He was in a league of His own. He was the worst. He was a juvenile delinquent who was one step away from being tried as an adult for being an all around asshole. He was tall, lanky and had a mouth to rival any truck driver that had ever roamed the country. He had dark hair that looked like it had never met the business end of a comb, dark eyes devoid of any recognizable human emotion and a dark, dusky complexion that would have been attractive on someone with a heart. He was the leader of The Outcasts and the bane of her existence.

Today He was wearing blue board shorts that went down to his knees and a red button up shirt that was unbuttoned all the way. Under the red shirt he wore a white wife-beater. He was sitting on the railing in front of the building being supported by two skanky girls with unnaturally large breasts straining their spaghetti strap shirts and skirts that would have put any proud prostitute to shame. He was laughing like a hyena at some joke that he had told and his shaking might have caused some brain damage to his giggling support if their heads hadn't been empty to begin with. HIS name was Mugen.

And her name was Fuu. As every step led her closer to the building it felt as though her legs had turned into lead and that time stood still. Every sound faded until she could only focus on the sound of the danger ahead of her. His guffaws were getting louder as she neared and she could also hear the high pitched cackle of the witches that surrounded him. What those girls saw in a man so cruel she would never comprehend. Her brain buzzed with angry words as she cursed their existence silently. She did not understand why they had to make her life a living hell. They had no right to make her feel so small and insignificant.

Her thoughts gave her the inner strength needed to cross the next few feet and the next few feet after that. Before long she was passing them by and she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard nothing directed at her. Perhaps they had finally tired of their game. But as she reached for the door handle she heard his voice ringing clearly behind her.

"Hey ugly! I almost missed you passing by. God forbid I don't get a chance to see your nasty face and . . . "

She snapped. Before she knew what she was doing, Fuu turned away from the door where she had frozen at the sound of his voice and marched over to him. Her expression was a mixture of fury and craze as she lifted her hand and struck him with two years of pent up frustration. "You asshole. Why can't you just leave me alone!"

Everyone around them froze and stared at the mouse who had dared raise her hand to the lion. Mugen stared at her as though she had grown a second head. And when she realized what she had done the crazed light left her eyes and the offending hand flew to her mouth. She looked at Mugen's eyes and saw the growing understanding in them. If she did not leave soon there would be hell to pay. She turned on her heel and fled the scene.

Mugen stared after the girl's retreating form. Two years they had goaded her and him most of all because she never fought back. Two years and she had never once turned back to see him as he called her names and made fun of her physique. He was surprised to say the least. He looked around at his crew and saw the shocked expressions all around. Time to save face. "Fucking bitch. I'm gonna kill her."

He hopped down off the railing and walked toward the building entrance. Once he found the girl he was going to show her what she got for standing up to him and making a fool of him in front of his crew. But he never found her. There were two floors to the building and by the time he finished searching the first floor the last bell for the first hour had rung. He hurried to his first class determined to find her sooner or later and beat her to a pulp.

He sidled into his class just as the teacher called his name for roll and sat down in his preferred seat in the back of the room. He put his feet on the seat in front of him and leaned back for a nap. But his repose was short lived as the teacher came up to him and tapped him on the head.

"Hmmm Whats up teach?" He said insolently with only one eye open.

"Mugen, your grades are terrible and you never pay attention in class. This is the last straw. I want you to go to your counselor's office and hand them this paper. Then I want you back in this class fully awake and with your textbook." The teacher handed Mugen an official looking document and marched back to the front of the room.

Mugen didn't even bother glancing at the paper. Anything to get him out of class, even if he did have to talk to a school counselor was fine by him. Picking up his pathetically light bag he got up and left the classroom.

He knew where he was going, he'd been sent to his counselor's office so many times that all of the receptionists knew him by sight. He nodded an acknowledgment to the woman behind the desk and took a seat to wait. Soon he was ushered into a closet of an office that contained one desk covered in papers and family photos and dominated by a large computer screen, two chairs and two overflowing file cabinets. He knew that one of those cabinets was exclusively for him because she had told him so the last time he had been sent to her office. The walls were covered in school spirit memorabilia and certificates.

"What's new Mrs. Yatsuha? And may I say that you look especially FINE today." He took a seat opposite her and draped one arm on the back as though he didn't have a care in the world. He looked at her with hungry eyes and if she hadn't been hardened by six years as a high school counselors in the large urban city, she may have quailed under such intense scrutiny.

"Mugen, what did you do this time?" was all that she said in response.

"Teach told me to give ya this." he said handing her the paper. She glanced at it and smirked. He sat straighter in his chair wishing that he had examined it before giving it to her. "Hey, what's so funny? What's the damn thing say?"

Her expression sobered as she raised her eyes to meet his though she couldn't help that the corners of her mouth were tugged up by an inescapable smile. "Mugen, your teachers have all signed a petition saying that you need to get a tutor."

"A what! Are they fucking nuts." He grabbed the paper from her and glanced at the paragraph and glanced at the twenty or so signatures at the bottom. "Hey some of these bozos aren't even my teachers. I'm not taking that many classes What the hell is going on?"

"Mugen, watch your language. I need to take this seriously and if you'll just wait a moment in here I'll see who is available to tutor you in all of your subjects because it seems as though you are failing all of them." She got up to leave and glanced at the boy in her office. How he had ever gone through elementary and middle school was a mystery but his grades were appalling and his social skills were non-existent. She shook her head as she made her exit.

Mugen stared at the paper in his hands and tried to calm himself down. But shame and rage threatened to tear him in two. _Who the hell do they think they are and what the fuck do they think they're gonna get for doing this shit? I've hidden this secret for a long fucking time and gotten by fine and now they wanna pull this crap. Goddamn it. _He raised his head when Mrs. Yatsuha re-entered the office and sat down in her chair. She reached over her desk and he couldn't help but sneak a peak at her cleaveage when she did. She plucked the paper from his hand and placed it in her overflowing inbox.

"Well, there's only one tutor available Mugen and she's very smart. I think that you'll learn a lot from her. To make sure that you actually attend the sessions they are being held in the empty office next to mine. Your homeroom teacher has agreed to let you come here during that hour to study with her. So I'll expect you here after lunch."

"Yeah whatever." He got up and stormed out of the office. The last thing he needed was to get into trouble again so he headed back to his first hour class.

After lunch he walked into the counselor's office with a plan. Yatsuha had said that the tutor was female so he'd just seduce her into doing all his work for him. He nodded to the receptionist and walked into the empty office. What he saw threw his plans right out the window.

"YOU!"

Fuu looked up at his exclamation and paled. "Wha? But. . You can't be serious." she groaned.

"Oh hell no you aren't my tutor. How the hell am I supposed to seduce an ugly ass girl like you into doing my work." He paced the office agitatedly while she stared at him.

"Excuse me? Seduce me into doing your work? I don't think so pal. I wouldn't sleep with you if you were the last living organism on earth." She put her hands on her hips and gave him her best _don't mess with me _look.

Mugen stopped his pacing and regarded the girl. Was this the same girl who for the past two years had taken his insults and walked away. Now she was glaring at him and talking back. "You know you're way more fun when you talk back. It's nice to know you finally grew a backbone. For a while there I didn't think you could talk."

_Was that his idea of a compliment?_ She tried her best to gather her composure and sat down on one end of the desk. She motioned for him to take the other seat and watched as he plunked down in front of her. She cleared her throat and said. "Um Mugen. I was told that I had to tutor you on several subjects so I uh guess we'd better get started. Why do you think you're having problems?"

"Hmph... I don't have any damn problems okay. These classes suck ass." He leaned across the desk and smirked when she leaned away from him. "Look, here's how it's gonna go. You do all my work and I'll make sure no one bothers you okay?"

"What?"

"They said you were smart and you can't even understand that? I'm offering you my protection if you do all my work for me. We'll meet here ever day so that I can give you my assignments and you give them back to me the next day finished, but don't do too good a job cuz they'll know I didn't do it. That's all you have to do and I'll keep everyone off your back."

She gave the deal some thought. It would be nice not to be made fun of anymore. But this was cheating wasn't it? _Oh hell who cares, you won't have to deal with him and his friends anymore._ Her inner voice told her.

"Okay deal. Tell me what your assignments are." She took out a pen and paper and prepared to write down what he told her." She stared at the sheets of paper that he handed her. "What's all this?"

"They're my assignments. I have my friends write down what my teacher tells them so that I can sleep in class."

"I can't read your friends handwriting so can you just read them off to me so that I can write them down myself." She sat with her pen poised above the paper and waited for him to say something. When nothing seemed forthcoming she looked up. He was squinting at the paper in front of him holding it at arm's length his face. He looked like he was concentrating a lot. She put her pen down and took the paper from him. Then she looked at Mugen and tried not to smile. "I think I know what your problem is Mugen."

His pale and terrified face was very satisfying and she did smile.

"So if you uh think you know smart-ass. Then tell me huh, what's my problem." He looked around the room to see if anyone was around.

"Well judging by the way you held that paper, I would guess that you can't see it. You need glasses don't you?" She screamed when he lunged across the desk and grabbed her by the front of her shirt.

"Don't you dare tell anyone you little bitch. No one knows my secret."

"What's the big deal anyway? They're just glasses."

"Only nerds wear glasses. I'm not a nerd, I'm a badass. How would it look, me wearin glasses. I'd get laughed at. I'll do whatever you want, as long as you don't tell anyone."

"Look Mugen, I just want you guys to stop making fun of me all the time." She extricated herself from his grasp and warily watched him get off of the desk. "I'll keep tutoring you and I'll help you with your homework but in light of this new info I'm not gonna do it all for you. You need to get glasses. You don't have to wear them all the time, just whenever your in here with me doing work. Okay?"

"Whatever. Look I need to get going. I'll see ya tomorrow and if you don't tell anyone about the glasses we wont make fun of ya." He turned and walked out of the door.

She stood there with a bemused smile on her face. After so long she'd get some peace and all she'd have to do was keep a little secret. But God it was Mugen, this was gonna be harder than it seemed.

(A/N: Okay if I get a good response about this chapter then I'll continue. I didn't really want this to be so dark seeming but I'll try to get the mood lighter in any future chapters that may or may not come. Read and Review and tell me if I should continue. Neko out)


	2. Relaxation?

**Disclaimer**: _From now on this will be a blanket disclaimer for the whole story._ Samurai Champloo is not mine. This story in no way represents the opinions of Shinichiro Watanabe, Geneon or anyone else in this world and this writer is sooooo not making any money off of it.

**Chapter II:**_** Relaxation? I don't think so**_

She stood on the curb looking up at the building where she had lived for the last five years. It was a faded lavender Victorian home that had seen better days. But it was still home and she liked the lived in feel of it most of the time. But right now, after reflecting on her day during the bus ride home she missed the life she had enjoyed before the accident that took her parents away from her.

She'd been taken in by her grandparents. They owned a tea shop in Japantown where she and her sister, Shino, worked part time as servers. Thankfully today was her day off. Fuu didn't think that she could handle those bloody tourists with their crappy Japanese shouting "Ohayou!" to her at four o'clock in the afternoon. She'd had enough confrontations today to last her a lifetime. It was time to relax.

For Fuu relaxation meant a long bath and a sit and read in the bay window overlooking the park. She wore her mother's bathrobe because it smelled like her mother and it was soft and fluffy. Today the book she had chosen was Stiff. Fuu had been considering a career in biology for a while now and the book was recommended by her teacher. With her mousy brown hair wrapped in a towel she settled in the window and took a moment to watch the hippies playing hacky-sac on the grass. The one with the blond dread locks was getting pretty good by now.

With her forehead pressed against the window Fuu wished that she could be so carefree but she'd settled herself into a life of academia and she felt that such a counter-culture existence would hinder her. This was the thinking that led to her solitary life, everyone else at school was so intent on the next party or the next concert. She was worried about applications for college a year away. With a heavy sigh she turned to her book and settled down to read.

_LATER_

Something was wrong. . . Fuu turned her head to the side and heard a tearing noise. She lifted her head and heard it again. But this time she also heard something else. Someone was pounding on something. Shaking her head to clear the fog she could now tell that the pounding was coming from downstairs. Putting the book down and swinging her legs from the bay window she winced as pins and needles danced in the revitalized limbs. Walking stiffly to the door, she peered around the jamb and breathed a sigh of relief when no one was there. She stopped at the hall closet and pulled out the wooden baseball bat she was sure was kept in there . . . just in case. Step by step the stinging sensation in her legs began to dissipate leaving her with more balance. Now if only she could get her eyes to focus.

She heard the pounding get louder the closer she got to the first floor and when she finally reached it she could see what she thought was a tall dark outline through the frosted glass door front. Tightening her grip on the bat she crept towards the door and tried to get a better look but her eyes still wouldn't focus. The pounding was getting to her and she figured that she'd only get it to stop when she opened the door and beat the living hell out of the jackass on the other side. She removed one hand from the bat and yanked the door open. Quickly returning the hand she prepared to swing. . .

"Fuu."

The shadow spoke. . . and it sounded like. . . "Jin?!" She couldn't really tell who it was because her damn eyes wouldn't focus. "Jin? Is that you?"

"Yes, it is me. Uh Fuu, why are you holding a broom?" Jin stood calmly in the doorway and watched the small girl in front of him with a bemused expression. She was wearing a bathrobe and a towel was falling off of her head. Her mouth hung slack and her eye was glazed. "And do you realize that you have paper stuck to your face?"

"Oh for Christ's sake!" Fuu threw the bat. . . er broom on the floor and clawed at her face. And finally she could focus. Realizing what had happened she began to blush.

She had fallen asleep while reading and her face had fallen onto her book. When the pounding on the door woke her she had lifted her head tearing a page out of the book which had become stuck to her face. Thinking that she had grabbed a bat from the hall closet she had actually taken a broom. Feeling like the world's biggest idiot she turned away from him and stormed upstairs completely ignoring the fact that she had left him on his own.

She washed her face in the bathroom and quickly changed into jeans and a black t-shirt pink sakura screened onto the front. Wrestling a comb through her half dried and tangled rat's nest, she prepared to talk to Jin.

Who was Jin? Well, Jin was a freshman at the local university studying international business. He had long black hair that he usually kept in a tight ponytail and wore wire framed glasses, though she'd heard they were just for show, he stood straight and tall and wore clean crisp professional clothes and he was quite possibly the handsomest man that Fuu had ever met. She couldn't believe she'd made such an ass of herself in front of him. He was probably downstairs laughing at her right now. Not that it mattered. The only reason Fuu had even met him was because he was dating her sister, Shino.

Shino was the perfect daughter. So pretty, so smart, so put together. She never lost her temper and always had a kind word and solid advice to give. She had been accepted to every university that she had applied to but had decided to stay in the city so that she could help with her grandparents' business. She was studying social work because she wanted to help women from abusive homes.

She and Jin had met at the university union during a free speech rally and they had hit it off very well. They had gone on several dates and her grandparents accepted him into their home. They were just so. . . damn perfect.

Fuu loved her sister and could begrudge her nothing but sometimes she wished that she didn't have to live up to so much. She wasn't as pretty as Shino, she wasn't as smart as Shino, she got perfect grades but they always came so hard. Shino never had to pull an all nighter to get her perfect grades. Fuu had an infamous temper and many regulars to the tea shop avoided her tables when they saw that particular glint in her eyes. Shino's life seemed so well planned out, she graduated high school the most popular girl in school, got accepted to college, and met the man of her dreams. Fuu was the high school wall flower and the outcasts' whipping boy.

Still fuming but trying to get herself in control she mostly calmly walked down the stairs. She found Jin in the living room sitting on the couch and staring at the TV but not really looking. Plastering what she hoped was a smile to her face she sat in the armchair. "So what brings you here?"

"Um, I was hoping I could talk to you about something." Jin looked down at his clasped hands.

"ehhh?" Fuu leaned forward in her chair. No one had ever asked her for advice before. She didn't think she was very qualified for doling it out, but hell she'd give it a try.

"As you know I've been dating Shino for a while now. I have very strong feeling for her. I'm not quite sure if you're the right person to be talking about this to but I really have no other option." He looked up to see her face contorted with indignity and put his hands up in a placating gesture. "Ah sorry sorry, that came out wrong. I was just wondering what you would think if I asked your sister to marry me."

Fuu's face instantly took on a surprised expression. "WHAT!! are you kidding me? That would be awesome!" Inside she was drowning in the romance of it all and raging at the unfairness of the universe. Why didn't these things happen to her?

Jin's face lit up unexpectedly in a smile. "Really? Great. Thanks Fuu. Do you think your grandparents would accept me?"

"Well duh. You already practically live here anyway." She got up and jumped on the couch ala Tom Cruise. "When are you gonna do it? When are you gonna propose?"

"Well that's another thing. I'm not sure how to go about it. I was hoping you could help me plan something."

"But of course I can. This'll be great" And so Fuu started on her second assignment which she dubbed unimaginatively the _Get Shino Hitched _plan.

_Author's notes: Okay so it's been prolly over a year since I wrote the first chapter and I'm so sorry about that but I couldn't think of anything to write and I've been wicked busy. And I know this chapter isn't that great and I'm not sure which direction I'm going with this but hopefully it won't be a year till the next chapter. Please review if you feel like it._


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